Antique 1907 Calendar Plate: General Store: Morse & Bigelow, Marlborough, MA

Description

This is a 114 year old porcelain calendar cabinet plate Compliments of Morse & Bigelow. This plate measures 9 1/2" in diameter and features the calendar for the year 1907 around the outter edge. The center of the plate depicts a boy smoking a pipe and a girl walking a dog.
More & Bigelow was one of the most profitable general stores in all of Massachusetts. Except below:
"In about 1822, Lambert Bigelow, though barely 21, established a country store in Marlborough in partnership with his brother Levi, calling themselves L. and L. Bigelow Co. Situated on Pleasant Street on the western side of town, the store occupied a massive building known as the "Old Long House." The timing was surely fortuitous: the store was founded just as Marlborough, like much of Middlesex County, was feeling the impact of industrialization and the growth that came along with. Although Levi left the firm after only a few years to pursue other work, Lambert continued on, eventually joining with a neighbor to form Morse, Bigelow, and Co., a substantial operation that survived as a commercial presence for decades.
As Bigelow's fortunes rose, he built a grand new house in town, the Old Homestead, and settled into the upper echelons of society. A civic minded man, Bigelow donated the ground upon which the first firehouse was built in 1849, and he served in public office as town treasurer (1835-1837, 1844-1850, and 1852) and town clerk (1832-1853); he represented Marlborough in the General Court in 1845, and he was one of the incorporators of the Marlborough Branch Railroad in 1852. In Marlborough, he outgrew his country store beginnings to be listed in the state census for 1855 as a "trader" and then as a "merchant" in the 1860 federal census. In latter, notably, he was listed with real estate assessed at ,900 and a personal estate of ,700, making him easily among the town's wealthiest residents. Lambert
Bigelow married Emily F. Dickinson, the daughter of long-time Northfield, Mass., family, on Nov. 24, 1824, and like all Bigelows of the time, he raised a large family. When he died March 2, 1869, he was survived by his wife and seven of their eight children."
**Due to the nature of selling vintage and used items, all items are sold as-is and any condition issues will be noted in pictures and descriptions. If you have questions about the item please ask before purchasing. I will be happy to combine shipping on multiple purchases. Please check my other listing for more vintage dinnerware, crafting and collectibles! Thanks and happy shopping!